I've had 2 Miele dws between 2 homes over the past 10 years. The original one, installed in 2004 is going strong with 0 repairs although it needed adjustment over the phone due to our whole house water softener (the softener was disabled). The newer one also was trouble free and I miss it as it has the Express cycle, which was great.

I also had the Bosch Axxis washer & condenser dryer for 2 years (until we sold the apartment). It was in a closet, stacked with the pull out shelf between. They were very good and I would recommend them and would have bought them again had the dealer not told me the vented dryer was being discontinued. I needed vented. However, the condenser dryer did an excellent job (though it gets very hot and if it's in a closet the door needs to be left open). My only quarrel with the Bosch is they must be manually turned off after the cycle ends. Since I needed a vented dryer I bought a Miele pair which was very expensive plus a learning curve but so excellent -- like the DW.

One thing I would do before any purchase is find out if the dealer services or if you need to go direct to the manufacturer for service. Miele also offers extended waranties vs buying from a dealer. I will buy one for my washer/dryer direct from them as that was cheaper than what the dealer was offering.

AEG is big in Europe but not well known here. I've been drooling over zone free induction units so I will be interested to see how you like that. But again, I would check the service. I feel you are smart to be concerned.

As for the fridge, is the KA actual counter depth i.e. 24-25 or more? A point to check. And I'd see what they say about that over on Appliances. I've had Liebherr in the past and loved it. They make a counter depth 36" fridge though I don't know how that stacks up against the KA or in terms of service.

When you go to a dealer and buy a big package you should get a discount though it can be small. My dealer was able to work that between brands. They cannot discount Miele, f.e.x.

Wishing you best of luck with your choices.

I think the fact that you bought multiple appliances from a corporation will mean exactly zip to a corporation. If it's under warranty, you call for service and they come out and do what the book tells them they can for each type of problem.

Especially since you are covering the big items under a cover panel, I don't really see the point of getting all your appliances as one brand. Brand X might have the best reviews and price for a DW, Brand Y might have the best fridge. Unless a store has a major package deal, I would always go piecemeal to get the best appliance at the best price for each type.

When you go to a dealer and buy a big package you should get a discount though it can be small. My dealer was able to work that between brands. They cannot discount Miele, f.e.x.

That was true with my dealer too -- I got a "courtesy discount" because he couldn't specifically discount the refrigerator for example. I got all different brands depending on the function I wanted, the look and the price --- Thermador fridge, Bosch cooktop and dishwasher, Sharp microwave, Zephyr hood, Fagor oven.

It is hard to find an appliance group from the same manufacturer where all of the individual appliances in the group are well rated. Some manufacturers just do a better job with some types of appliances and not others. So, it is really best to go for the best rated appliances for your budget and style, regardless of brand.

With that said, the only reason that I can really see to go with the same brand is for aesthetic reasons (pull handles, display color, etc.). For us, the matchy matchy appliances was only an issue for adjacent appliances. Our microwave sits above our wall oven so we wanted those two to have the same color display. It seems each manufacturer has their own display color, so mixing brands in that case would have been more noticeable. We did still take ratings and reviews into consideration to find the best pair to use. We also did that with our cooktop and vent hood. Our dishwasher is off on its own, so we just wanted to make sure that the handle was of similar style to the oven handle. We were able to do that without them being of the same brand.

This post was edited by gpraceman on Mon, Oct 21, 13 at 16:24

Thanks for all the input thus far, I really appreciate it. As it stands at the moment, the models we are considering are a mish-mash of different brands.

I'm hoping to get some positive stories about any of the specific models that I've mentioned in my original question.

The reason that we like the AEG induction cooktop, is due to the zone-free. Thermador has freedom induction, but it is twice the price.

If we go with the AEG induction cooktop, then we are looking at the AEG pro-combi steam oven not because of the steam option (which I was told is not a true steam oven, but I don't care), but because it has a lot of features that the regular AEG wall ovens don't have.

We are considering the KitchenAid fridge because it is the most affordable option if one wishes a panelled fridge.

I like the Bosch name for dishwashers and laundry. However, Miele is currently offering a promotion regarding a ten year warranty for their appliances (ends Nov 3). That being said, if you need service and have to wait for a part to arrive, it hurts no matter whether it's covered under warranty or not. It comes down to: is Miele more reliable than Bosch? Also, some people have commented that the layout of the Miele dishwasher is illogical. What about the long wash cycle, and no heated dry, is that a pain or not really? The Miele stackable washer/dryer is 110volt, and takes a long time to wash a load, is that a big deal?

I'm hoping that if I can hear from some real fans, then it might sway me more to one brand than another, for a particular application (keeping in mind we have a preference for panel ready dishwashers and fridges).

Thanks and keep the comments coming.

Hmmm....
http://blog.yaleappliance.com/bid/87141/Viking-D3-vs-JennAir-vs-KitchenAid-Shallow-Counter-Depth-Refrigerators

Getting closer to making decisions!

Leaning towards:
AEG wall oven and induction cooktop
Fisher Paykel French door fridge (stainless steel)
GE 24" compact stacking washer/dryer

Still not decided on a dishwasher. Have missed out on the Miele 10% off or 10 year warranty promotion. Instead of the Miele Futura Classic Series panel ready dishwasher, now looking at the Bosch 800 Plus series.

I'm interested in this thread too. I've gone to way too many appliance/ big box stores to look inside the dishwashers, and then checking all out on Consumer Reports. I guess I'm spoiled, but I like the top of the line Kenmore Elite and Bosch. The only thing keeping me from jumping on the Bosch is the condensation drying thing. Do any of you have experience with this? Do you like it? Waiting two hours before opening the door seems excessive.

Thanks all for your very helpful input - I too am very interested in the responses. We're doing a complete rebuild of our kitchen. The contractor is now able to start 2 months early so we're ramping up rapidly! We were just in the appliance store and looking at the following:
- AEG induction cooktop
- Fisher & Paykel counter-depth french door fridge
- Fisher & Paykel wall oven
- Bosch dishwasher - model with the top cutlery rack
- Panasonic microwave
- pull-out vent hood

I didn't write down all the model numbers, too confused after a while, so just waiting for the estimate to come in. We have a $10K CAD budget and I know we're getting a good discount as the Bosch was listed at around $1500 and she said we'd be getting it for around $1000.

We picked the FP fridge mostly because we loved the handle profile and stainless look and colour. We're waffling on the FP wall oven as it's very black (cabinets will be white slab, perimeter and island counters likely Vicostone sparkling grey) plus getting conflicting reports on if FP wall ovens are good or not - plus review of FP fridge not being cold enough. However some of the other wall ovens were quite a bit more expensive so not sure we can afford them. The store (Midland Appliances in Vancouver) is getting an AEG wall oven in a week so we're going back to see it when it's in.

We want the Bosch dishwasher as it's very, very quiet. We've had 2 Bosch DW in the past. Unfortunately the first died after 3 years - apparently we used too much liquid soap, our water is very soft and it corroded? through the plastic line out, we burnt out the motor running it full of water?? But we liked the quietness and operation so much we still bought another Bosch last year. The new one with the top cutlery rack doesn't actually wash as well as our 2010 model but we're still getting it again because of the quietness.

Loved the Miele speed oven with convention and microwave but way too expensive. We thought we could combine the microwave and toaster oven in one appliance but for the price, we could buy 10 of each so that was a non-starter. Just going with a big Panasonic MW that we will put under the island counter hopefully.

If anyone has experience with any of our current choices, especially with FP, would very much appreciate it.